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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-39351

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 31 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all firefighters who are tasked with entering a burning building are provided with a breathing apparatus set that has built-in radio communications with the incident commander and others, to ensure that all are able to communicate their whereabouts or status in the event that they become separated.

Question reference: S6W-39353

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 31 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all firefighters are provided with wearable tracking devices for use during incidents to record their heart and breathing rates, in order to provide early warning signs of potential health issues to those monitoring from outside the risk area.

The operational guidance used to keep firefighters safe is an operational matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Firefighters in Scotland do not currently have wearable tracking devices to record their heart and breathing rates. SFRS is exploring whether the specification for replacement Breathing Apparatus can monitor breathing rates as part of the integrated communication capability.

Question reference: S6W-39354

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 31 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all fire stations are stocked with a spare thermal imaging camera.

Question reference: S6W-39352

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 31 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all firefighters are provided with wearable tracking devices for use during incidents to track their location.

Question reference: S6W-39261

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38840 by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025, whether it anticipates it will incur any contingent liability in either capital or resource commitment as a result of the carbon contracts pilot.

Question reference: S6W-39260

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38841 by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025, what the items of expenditure are that capital expenditure is expected to cover within the pilot, and what level of capital spending the pilot expenditure of up to £1 million is expected to lever by way of private capital.

Capital expenditure is solely for the purchase of Peatland Carbon Units at a set rate as they mature within each project. However, awardees may sell their units on the open market where they can achieve an improved price.

A key aim of the pilot is to assess whether Carbon Contracts are likely to reduce the cost of restoration work for government by leveraging private capital.

For more information on the pilot see Carbon Contracts Pilot – Application Guidance | NatureScot.

Question reference: S6W-39259

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S6W-38838 and S6W-38841 by Jim Fairlie on 3 July 2025, whether there is any capital or resource budget implication for the Peatland ACTION budget in 2026-27 and subsequent years as a result of the carbon contracts pilot.

There are no implications for the Peatland ACTION budget in the year 2026-2027 as a result of the carbon contracts pilot.

At this point in time, it is not possible to say how future costs of the pilot will impact on specific budgets. Budgets in respect of 2026-27 and future financial years have not yet been set by the Scottish Parliament.

For more information on the pilot see Carbon Contracts Pilot – Application Guidance | NatureScot.

Question reference: S6W-39359

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many fire stations had firefighting staff that exceeded the permitted maximum of 24 hours of overtime per month in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-39355

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken to reduce the reported 29% vacancy rate in the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The recruitment and retention of staff is a matter for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service as the employer. The 29% vacancy rate refers to on-call establishment figures. SFRS is taking action to recruit more on-call firefighters though the use of 50 full time on-call support officers and in providing targeted assistance to potential candidates. In addition more flexible contracts have been introduced which can reduce the time commitment needed to be an on-call firefighter.

Question reference: S6W-39358

Asked by: Rhoda Grant, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether all firefighters who are tasked with fighting wildfires are provided with wildfire kit as an alternative to wearing kit that is designed for fighting structural fires.

The allocation of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) resources to respond to wildfires and indeed to respond to any emergency incident that requires its attendance, is an operational matter for SFRS.

Since the launch of its Wildfire Strategy in 2023, SFRS is investing £1.6 million in vehicles and operational equipment including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The provision of wildfire PPE has been focused on the specialist fire stations which deal with the majority of wildfire incidents. Firefighters from non-specialist wildfire stations who respond to support operations continue to wear standard structural PPE.

The Chief Fire Officer has provided assurances to the Scottish Government that firefighter safety is an absolute priority, that all specialist wildfire PPE and existing standard PPE in place is safe and that SFRS remains fully prepared and equipped to respond to wildfires.